eprintid: 479 rev_number: 2 eprint_status: archive userid: 1 dir: disk0/00/00/04/79 datestamp: 2023-11-09 15:16:07 lastmod: 2023-11-09 15:16:07 status_changed: 2023-11-09 15:14:39 type: article metadata_visibility: show creators_name: Jha, V. creators_name: Hon, A.A. creators_name: Thomas, A.G. creators_name: Busfield, J.J.C. title: Modeling of the effect of rigid fillers on the stiffness of rubbers ispublished: pub keywords: Boundary conditions; Elastic moduli; Elastomers; Rubber; Stiffness; Viscosity; Volume fraction, Microstructural models; Microstructural unit cells; Representative volumes, Fillers, elastic modulus; elastomer; filling material; microstructural analysis; stiffness; synthetic rubber; viscoelasticity note: cited By 22 abstract: The theories that predict the increase in the modulus of elastomers resulting from the presence of a rigid filler are typically derived from Einstein's viscosity law. For example, Guth and Gold used this approach to predict how the Young's modulus of an elastomer is related to the filler volume fraction. Hon et al. have shown using finite element microstructural models that stiffness predictions at small strains were also possible. Here, microstructural finite element models have been used to investigate the modulus of filled elastomer over a wider range of strains than has been possible previously. At larger strains, finite extensibility effects are significant and here an appropriate stored energy function proposed by Gent was adopted. In this work, the effect of spherical MT-type carbon-black filler behavior was considered. Different models were made and the results were then compared to experimental measurement of the stiffness taken from the literature. It is shown that the boundary conditions of the microstructural unit cell lie between the two extremes of free surfaces and planar surfaces. Also as the filler volume fraction increases then the number of filler particles required in the representative volume to predict the actual stiffness behavior also increases. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. date: 2008 official_url: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-38849160069&doi=10.1002%2fapp.27324&partnerID=40&md5=36724287acc8f23812a1f89b2dbeb111 id_number: 10.1002/app.27324 full_text_status: none publication: Journal of Applied Polymer Science volume: 107 number: 4 pagerange: 2572-2577 refereed: TRUE issn: 00218995 citation: Jha, V. and Hon, A.A. and Thomas, A.G. and Busfield, J.J.C. (2008) Modeling of the effect of rigid fillers on the stiffness of rubbers. Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 107 (4). pp. 2572-2577. ISSN 00218995